The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

Audio: Classic VOA interviews

The US Embassy recently produced a CD of old interviews from the Voice of America Arabic service archives. (VOA Arabic was canceled a while ago, to be replaced by the much-criticized, pop-heavy Radio Sawa). The interviews -- of major Egyptian writers, artists, singers such as Naguib Mahfouz, Mohamed Abdel Wahab and Tahia Carioca -- are also availableÂ online.Â I havenâ€™t had a chance to hear more than the opening minutes of the Mahfouz interview, but I look forward to furthering my Mahfouz obsession by listening to the whole thing soon. In general, itâ€™s nice to see the US Embassy support a cultural initiative like this.